The Spark that Lit the Revolution : Lenin in London and the Politics that Changed the World

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin visited London on six occasions at the beginning of the twentieth century and it was in this city, where Marx wrote Das Kapital, that the roots of Lenin's political thought took shape. This book, from a former curator of the Russian collections at the British Library, tells the story for the first time of Lenin's intriguing relationship with the enigmatic Apollinariya Yakubova – a revolutionary known to her comrades as the 'primeval force of the Black Earth'.

The book reveals Lenin's London-based accomplices and political rivals, and sheds new light on his world-view – one which would have such a crucial impact on the twentieth century. This is the first full exploration of the formation of one of the leading political visionaries of his age. Henderson has made a series of stunning archival discoveries, published here for the first time, as well as photographs and details of the Russian revolutionaries (and indeed international police spies) who congregated in the east end of London - known then as the 'Little Russian Island'. Featuring an extraordinary amount of new archival material, this is an essential addition to our knowledge of Lenin the man and of the roots of the Russian revolution.

“Henderson has woven his narrative out of a brilliant miscellany of archival sources, with crucial finds in the Hoover Institution's records of the Okhrana, or political police.” —Times Literary Supplement

“One hundred fifty years after Lenin's birth, Henderson's book does something to bring him back to life.” —The Jacobin

“Henderson's revelatory book captures the atmosphere of a time of Jewish idealism preceding that of the horrors of the Gulag.” —The Jewish Chronicle

“Henderson's book should be of interest to Labour historians of the early 20th century. It reveals many of Lenin's London based political networks and the roots of the politics that continue to influence the party's left-wing.” —Tides of History blog

“Flawlessly researched, lucidly written, replete with exhaustive archival evidence, including previously undiscovered photographs, Henderson has produced the definitive study of the numerous occasions that Lenin, the world's best known revolutionary, spent in London refining and developing his influential views.” —John Gonzalez, author of An Intellectual Biography of N.A. Rozhkov: Life in a Bell Jar (2016)

“In this outstanding work Robert Henderson deploys new archival discoveries and a lifetime's research into the Russian émigré community of the early twentieth century to throw new light upon both the revolutionary and the personal life of one of the towering figures of modern history. One could ask for no more expert or convivial guide to Lenin's various sojourns on London's “Little Russian Island” during the birth of Bolshevism.” —Dr Jonathan Smele, Queen Mary University of London, UK

“Robert Henderson takes us into the cheap lodgings, much-frequented libraries, packed meeting halls, favourite bars and restaurants which were the backdrops to the intense lives of the Russian revolutionary emigration in London. We become witnesses to their ferocious arguments and observers of their lives, loves and hopes for a better future for their homeland.” —Professor Christopher Read, University of Warwick, UK

“In this fascinating study, Robert Henderson takes us on a trail through the archives to reconstruct Lenin's life in London: the places he lived, the circles he moved in, and the relationships he built.” —Professor Charlotte Alston, Northumbria University, UK